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Adamson Act Law and Legal Definition

The Adamson Act (“Act”) was the first U.S federal legislation that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. The Act established an eight-hour workday, with additional pay for overtime work, for employees engaged in operation of trains for interstate railway carriers. This Act was passed in 1916 to avoid an anticipated calamity of general strike by certain bodies of organized railroad employees. This Act was repealed in 1996. It was formerly codified at 45 USCS §§ 65 and 66.